Clash of Tradition and Innovation: SV Austria Salzburg vs Red Bull Salzburg
On Tuesday evening, SV Austria Salzburg took on Red Bull Salzburg in the OFB Cup in Austria. To the uninformed eye this fixture may seem like a typical European derby game with a history of heated clashes and combative football. However this is not your average rivalry, in fact many fans refuse to even call it a derby, in particular, fans of SV Austria Salzburg.
copyright: SVAS
Red Bull Salzburg putting pressure on the Austria Salzburg goal
In 2005, Red Bull was starting to invest massively into the sports world, pushing the narrative that their energy drink was the beverage of athletes. Dietrich Mateschitz, the big boss of Red Bull, who died in October last year, was eager to extend his growing portfolio to the beautiful game, after his company has been so successful in various other sports. Red Bull approached SV Austria Salzburg, a club in the city where the Red Bull company was based. There was no shortage of enthusiasm about the possibility of sponsorship and an influx of funding that would help the club through their financial difficulties.
Dietrich Mateshitz celebrating a win for his Formula One team with Sebastian Vettel
At the time SV Austria Salzburg were a competitive team both domestically and in Europe. The club was founded in 1933 and reached the Austrian top flight in 1953. They finished as runners-up for the first time in the 1970-71 season one point behind their main rivals Wacker Innsbruck, whom Austria Salzburg fans will tell you is their traditional derby game. They also were champions of the Austrian first league for the first time in 1978, and then again in 1987.
In 1978, the club’s official name was changed to SV Casino Salzburg, and it was during this period that they had the most success. They won the first division three times in 1994, 1995, and 1997. They also reached a UEFA cup final in 1994, which they lost to Inter Milan.
It was not unheard of for Austrian teams to adopt a sponsor name into their own.
1994 UEFA Cup final, Dennis Bergkamp skipping past an Austria Salzburg player
Red Bull wanted to change more than just the name.
Red Bull expressed their intention to introduce radical changes, including the club colours, the crest, and the name. This infuriated the fans resulting in weeks of protests and talks between fan groups and Red Bull.
Red Bull Salzburg team in 2006, shortly after the takeover
An agreement was eventually made. The clubs original colour violet featured only on the goalkeeper socks, which raised tensions even further and many fans saw this as a humiliating final straw.
The acquisition was completed on 13 June 2005.
The complete takeover and disregard by Red Bull alienated many of the Austria Salzburg fans, as board member Stefan Schubert explains in a BBC interview. “That company had just destroyed a huge part of our lives. Dropped the colours. Erased the history. We had negotiated with them for a while and all they offered in the end was to keep the goalkeeper’s socks violet. We wanted to keep our club, our history, our colours,” he said.
That is exactly what they did. Many of the supporters ditched the Red Bull project and split off from the club they had supported their whole lives, and started a new team, which would maintain the original history, colours and crest.
copyright: SVAS
Austria Salzburg players and staff embracing their fans after the game on Tuesday night
It’s been 18 long years since the takeover and the build up to the game between now two Salzburg clubs in Austria was immense, with it arguably being one of the most highly anticipated matches of the Austrian football season. Despite there being a vast gulf in quality between the two sides with Austria Salzburg playing in the third division and Red Bull at the summit of Austria’s first division, this match up was hardly about the result.
Tuesday night was the first meeting between the Salzburg sides since the club split in two in 2005.
The game itself took place at the larger Untersberg-Arena in Grodig to accommodate the increase in fan interest for this particular fixture. The atmosphere was already bouncing in and around the ground well before the start of the game.
copyright: SVAS
The half time fireworks display by the Austria Salzburg fans
The end result was a 0-4 win for Red Bull. However, throughout the match, the fans were providing a truly worthy spectacle. During half time the Austria Salzburg fans put on a tremendous fireworks display, temporarily suspending the start of the second half. It is also worth adding that their Goalkeeper had the words “Not for sale” written on his jersey.
copyright: SVAS
Austria Salzburg goalkeeper, Manuel Kalman, wearing a jersey that says “Not for Sale”.
In the end it felt like a fair result in terms of performance, with RB Salzburg dominating the game from start to finish, although Austria Salzburg admirably managed to stay only 0-1 down for a large chunk of the game. I’m sure many of their fans will have been dreaming for a better result, because another game against the team that replaced them may not come round for another 18 years.
